Will welfare reforms affect the housing sector’s financial stability?

Housing is under particular strain at the minute, with more homes to build and less money than ever to do it. So any policy that could damage the financial stability of the sector could spell disaster.

But just how concerned should we be about the government's welfare reforms, and specifically, plans to pay the housing benefit element of universal credit directly to tenants instead of landlords? Lots has been written about the issue, with reduced security, missed payments and less incentive for private landlords to accept social tenants cited as negatives. Read More: